Abstract
This essay examines the legacy of the late President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frias. Shortly after the death of President Chávez, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the 266th and current pope of the Catholic Church and took the name, Francis. The essay contrasts the demonization of Hugo Chávez by the Western corporate media with the adulation of the newly elected Pope. The author recounts his work in Venezuela building socialism as part of the Bolivarian Revolution initiated by the Chávez government. The Bolivarian Revolution has been a powerful challenge to the catastrophe of finance capitalism and has helped Venezuela's poor tremendously. The author then discusses the traditional role of the Catholic Church in Latin America to protect the class of wealth and property. He notes the controversy surrounding the role Pope Francis played during the days of the military dictatorship in Argentina where the Pope was serving as a bishop of the Church. Some reason to be optimistic about the new pope is contained in the view of liberation theologian Leonardo Boff, and the author ends his commentary with this note of optimism. Chávez's legacy, however, is already assured, at least among the poor and the powerless of Las Americas, who will continue to revere him as a popular saint.